From PARAGLIDER magazine Volume Four No.3

The following is a review Nick Scholtes wrote for an ultralight
magazine. Nick is an instructor/dealer and sells may kinds of wings,
including the Revolution and Reaction.
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"Have you flown Mac-Para's new Spice?"  "Hey, whatdayathink of the
Spice, quite a hottie, huh?"

These were questions asked to me recently, and I answered with my
usual scepticism and my "I've heard that about every new wing in the
last decade" lack of enthusiasm.  One thing that got my attention
though, was that two people with opinions I really value said that
they had flown the new Spice and liked it a lot.  I've flown quite a
few of Mac-Para's designs in the last couple of years, and I tended to
really like them.  I wanted to try out the Spice and see for myself.
So, I asked for a demo and a few days later it arrived.  At that
point, I had no intention of writing a review on the wing.  I just
wanted to see what it was like.  So off I went with my demo Spice 22
medium (no small is offered at this time).

I have had a personal policy of not even bothering to fly anything
with a DHV rating higher than a 1-2 because I'd never consider buying
one.  The Spice large recently received an AFNOR Performance rating
(without trim), but the medium Spice is currently without
certification. Until it's rated we won't know for sure, but it is safe
to say the Spice 22 is definitely not a beginner wing. Comparing its
performance to DHV 1 or DHV 1-2 wings may be somewhat unjust, because
my guess is that it will probably end up as a performance glider and
should really be compared with other wings in that group.

My good friend, flying buddy, and exceptionally skilled pilot, Eric
Rys, had just purchased a brand-new Mac-Para Eden III 28 (DHV 1-2).
Eric and I weigh about the same amount (170 lbs), fly motors that
weigh about the same amount, and we both fly with the same make,
model, and size of reserve.  So, our suspended weights are just about
identical.  Also, our motors put out similar amounts of thrust, Eric
flies a Snap100-based machine and I fly an RDM100-based machine.
We both launched, climbed out, and before long the conversation
started:  "Boy, that thing looks weird, dude, I mean how the heck can
that thing fly well when it's so darn small?"  "I don't know, I'll bet
it sinks like a rock when the fan stops.  Tell you what, let's both
climb up to 1000' AGL, shut the motors down, and see which wing sinks
better."  So we did.  And the results were:  The little 22 meter Spice
sank slower than the Eden III 28.  Wow!  That was interesting.  So we
restarted and climbed again, side-by-side and WOW, the little Spice
climbed better than the Eden III 28. How can this little wing do that?
  It must be amazingly efficient.  What about speed?  We pulled
trimmers all the way in (which is slower-than-neutral on the Spice)
and pulled up next to each other.  The Spice was just a tad slower.
We let trimmers out.  The Spice was faster not by a tad, but by quite
a bit.  Then we stepped on speedbar with trimmers all the way out.  In
our "racing configuration", the Spice was up to the challenge and just
roasted the Eden III.  Totally amazing.  And so, the fire was stoked
to figure out just what this little wing could (and couldn't) do. This
review is the result of our rather unscientific comparisons.

First, let's look at the wing itself.  This is a very small, high
performance paraglider.  It came equipped with trimmers and speedbar,
no split-A's.  The trimmers are slightly unusual in that there is a
line on them that marks the neutral position, which is the "full in"
position on most riser sets.  This riser set allows you to pull the
trimmers in slower than neutral.  They can also be let out quite far
for the fast position.  The speedbar is standard, utilizing a 2-pulley
system.  The rest of the wing is standard Mac-Para, as well.

I tried to make some actual measurements so hopefully other motorheads
could relate, and also so I could avoid the completely subjective
stuff.  Some hard numbers are helpful.  But, some subjective stuff is
important too. It's important for me to state, also, that I look for a
wing that is a good "dual-purpose" wing, one that can motor and
free-fly equally well.  So, with regard to the subjective stuff,
here's a summary of my subjective opinions of the Spice 22.

WOWIE-KAZOWIE!  This thing is a hotrod!  If you're middle-aged, like
me, and you've been Jonesing for a Lamborghini or some other little
red sportscar, consider a Spice 22 to get you through it! There's not
much this little wing does poorly.  It inflates easily, it turns
SOOOOOO sharply and crisply, it has good sink rate (trim in), good
glide ratio (subjective, I was unable to measure this), great speed.
The tradeoff for all of this "good stuff" is that it IS a sportscar,
and it is not intended for beginners. It can get you into trouble. I
know because on my first flight it almost ended up in the trees when I
figured I'd "yank it around a bit down low" and ended up doing a 270
degree turn where a 180 degree turn was intended.  The Spice turns so
fast that I was past my intended roll-out point before I knew it and
by the time I did roll out I was heading for a line of trees. And if
the wing gets disturbed (from turbulence or from heavy hands) it will
rock-and-roll a bit before it settles out.

Now some subjective details:

Inflation:  I rate the inflation of a wing on two different
characteristics. Both really only  matter in no-wind (heck, you could
inflate a bedsheet in a 10mph breeze!).  One is how "easy" or "hard"
it is to pull the wing up overhead.  This is a subjective measurement
of how much `pilot energy' is required during inflation.  The other
characteristic is how consistently and evenly the wing inflates in
no-wind.  The little Spice 22 is extremely "easy" to inflate,
requiring very little energy.  This is probably due to the fact that
there is so little cloth back there that you hardly feel it!  A little
pull and up it comes.  With regard to how consistent and evenly it
inflates, it is a `sports car' and it won't necessarily center itself
every time.  You've got to work a bit for it, but nothing that isn't
completely acceptable.  After it's inflated, though, is where the fun
starts.  That little wing needs some pretty significant airspeed to
get airborne, so be ready to pour the coals to the motor and RUN!  In
my month of evaluating the Spice, I didn't blow a single low-wind
launch with it.  But I did do some of the most interesting, "Carl
Lewis" style launches I've ever done.

Handling:  Handling is an area where the little Spice really shines.
It TURNS, baby!  Brake pressures are light with trim in any position,
and roll-rate is exceptionally fast at all trim positions.  With trim
out, it only takes a pull of about 12 inches and a little weightshift
to get her spiraling.  And spiral she does.  Once held in a spiral,
she'll lock in, point toward the ground, and start increasing the G's.
  It's definitely fun, and a good way to get down.  I must say, in my
opinion though, the Spice rolls so quickly that it is definitely not a
beginner wing, and even in the hands of an experienced pilot there is
not much room for un-thought-out control inputs.  I let my mind wander
twice early on with the Spice and found myself in situations that I
wasn't happy with (one was the afore mentioned tree incident, and
another was while doing wingovers low to the ground when I almost
pounded myself in).  After the wing notified me that it demanded
respect, I didn't have further over-controlling problems.

Big Ears:  The demo version of this glider did not have split-A's.
But the outer A-lines could be reached and pulled down to induce ears.
  Ears are easily pulled on the Spice, and flight with them `in' is a
stable affair.  Sink rate increases noticeably, although I didn't
measure it.  Ears were pulled with trims fully in and fully out, with
not much difference noted.  Upon release they automatically and
quickly roll out.  Single-ear performance is interesting.  If you pull
the left ear, the wing will bank considerably to the right.  With trim
out, a single ear, and no other input, the wing will bank up away from
the ear enough that after 360 degrees of rotation you are in a mild
spiral.  This is a somewhat interesting behavior that I haven't seen
that often.  What's interesting is that if you use your left hand to
pull the left ear, there is no way to use your left hand to apply left
brake to straighten the wing out.  Basically, it's turning right and
there's not much, other than weightshift, that you can do about it.

50% Asymetrics:  50% asymetrics were induced simply by pulling down on
the A-riser on one side.  Several interesting behaviors were noticed
here. First, if you pull the riser slowly and not very far you will
get the leading edge on half the wing to "close", but the wing will
largely stay inflated.  This situation creates a turn away from the
collapse, similar to big-ear performance (only with a bigger "ear").
This "mode" is quite stable and can be held pretty much indefinitely.
With trim in it's pretty easy to get into this mode, with trim out
it's harder and the collapse wants to develop more fully.  If you
"bang down" the riser and hold it, the side of the wing will deflate
and trail rearward.  It has a very strong tendency to reinflate
though, and it takes quite a bit to continue holding it down.  Banging
it down and holding it  (for longer than a second or two) becomes a
moot point however, because the wing has banked up in the direction of
the collapse so severely that you need to let go of the riser and get
the wing back under control.  This rapid roll toward the deflated side
is accentuated with trim out.  Neither I, nor Eric who has juevos much
larger than mine, nor Jeff Goin who also did an intentional  50%
asymetric with the Spice, had sufficient juevos to do a 50%-er with
trimmers out while on speedbar.  If a collapse is induced by banging
it down and immediately letting go, the wing will immediately start to
rotate and also reinflate, with rotation stopping and reinflation
occurring after about 120 degrees of rotation.  So, in summary,
asymetric deflations with the Spice are uneventful both with trim in
and trim out if you don't bang it down and hold it.  If you bang it
down and hold it, you're in for a bit of a ride.

B-Stall:  B-stalling this wing is pretty straight forward and it's
performance is actually quite docile. We expected a big surge after
release of the B's, but the surge was pretty mellow.

Rough Air performance:  As I've said, the Spice 22 is a hotrod.  One
of the things that makes it a hotrod is it's quick roll rate.  This
roll rate can be induced with the brakes, with weightshift, or with
anything that displaces the wing from that "ideal" spot directly over
your head.  So, in turbulence the wing can get displaced from the
ideal spot either fore/aft or side-to-side, as any wing can.  After
this displacement, the Spice tends to attempt to return to the ideal
spot rather rapidly, which is to be expected.  Nothing "squirrely"
about it, just what would be expected from a hotrod like this.  I flew
this wing in some light late-morning thermals and also in some trashy
pre-storm air and I didn't suffer any collapses or tucks.  One pilot
said that he did suffer a tuck in some fairly strong bumps and
reported that the recovery was somewhat "Spicy", as expected.

Now for some of the non-subjective things, things that could really be
measured!

Speed:  Speed was measured with a Magellan GPS, flying a straight
course directly over a road in both directions at 300' AGL and
averaging the numbers.  Measured speeds were:  Trim Neutral -- 26 mph,
  Trim Fast -- 29 mph, Trim Fast w/ full speedbar -- 35 mph. (Note,
these are statute mph, not knots.  Huh, that sounds kinda' weird, not
knots!)

Power Required:  (I don't know if this section will be of value, but I
measured it anyway.)  For reference, I was on a SkyCruiser with geared
weightshift, an RDM100 engine, swinging a Sensenich 46x29 prop.  Full
throttle RPM in a climb was 9980. Actual altitude of my flying site
was 640' MSL at launch, density altitude at the time of the tests was
reported as 2200' by the AWOS at the local airport.   Power
requirements for straight and level flight, as measured with a FlyTEC
450 vario were:  Trim In -- 7650 RPM,  Trim Fast -- 7850 RPM, Trim
Fast w/ full speedbar 9000 RPM

Climb Rate:  I only measured climb rate in one configuration (it was
getting dark!).  The FlyTEC said I climbed at an average of 380 ft/min
from 200' AGL to 1000' AGL with trim neutral and with the RDM singing
along at 9980 RPM.

Sink Rate:  This was interesting, especially the last mode which I
call "lawn dart" mode!  In each test I climbed to 800' AGL, went to
idle, allowed the system to stablize down to 600' AGL, and then
started measuring.  So, the measurements were:  Trim full in -- 340
ft/min, Trim neutral 360 ft/min, Trim fast -- 420 ft/min, and with
Trim fast and full speedbar, a whopping 760 ft/min!  This makes sense
when combined with the fact that it requires 9000 RPM to keep it level
in this configuration.

These are the only tests I was able to perform before I had to let
somebody else play with this very cool hotrod.  I wish I could've
played with it longer, but I guess I'll have to buy one to do that!
If you are looking for a wing that is good at just about everything,
this is a strong contender, keeping in mind that it is not for the
heavy-handed, and it is not your "go for a walk in the sky" DHV-1
cruiser.  This is definitely a performance glider for performance and
competition PPG pilots.

Have fun, stay safe!